Black
by lollipop99
Summary: Ambrosia has lived her life to the expectations of her parents. She is a Pure Blood and proud of it. Or at least she thought she was. But when she goes to Hogwarts everything begins to change.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Hello everyone. Welcome to my story. This is my first Fanfiction, so any feedback you can give me will be appreciated! I should warn you though, I'm not very good with updating, so please be patient with me :)**

**Anyway, that's all for now. I'll let you get on with the story:**

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Chapter 1

There was something special about 25th of August!

Ambrosia DeLane was practically jumping in excitement as she was walking down Diagonal Alley with her mother. Today was the day the she would be getting everything she'd need to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, undoubtedly the best magic school there is! She had only gotten her letter a week ago and had spent the whole week dreaming of walking in the schools great halls, wielding her wand and learning the secrets Hogwarts had to offer.

"Will you stop fidgeting! One might think you were raised in a barn!"

Ambrosia's mother had spent the last eleven year raising her daughter to behave like a proper young pure-blood witch. Anything that fell outside of this category (like jumping around in excitement) was met with a sneer and admonishing comment, which usually ended in '_You are a DeLane, so act like it'_. But Ambrosia didn't mind. She grew up this way and was hardly affected anymore, although she did walk in a normal manner now.

"Now, what do we need to buy again? It's been so long since your brother's first year!" With a quick glance at the list of supplies that came with the letter, Mrs DeLane was dragging her daughter around from shop to shop.

By the time they decided to take a break, Ambrosia was so laden with parcels and packages that she hardly had any room on the little table to place her tea. They had managed to acquire everything except for a wand and an owl ("_No cats or toads for MY daughter!)_. Ambrosia could hardly believe how great her day has been so far. She had bought almost everything necessary for her time at Hogwarts and she got to spend the whole day with her mother.

Just as she thought this, an owl swooped over their table and dropped a letter into her mother's lap. After a quick scan, Mrs DeLane quickly stood and bent to give her daughter a kiss.

"I'm sorry honey but I must be off. Trouble with work! Phyllis has bought the wrong colour of fabric, that stupid thing. I'll send Humphrey to come pick you up in an hour. Ta ta!" and with that she was off, leaving behind an empty chair and a disappointed daughter.

"Oh, well. I guess I'll just buy my own wand and owl."

Five minutes later, Ambrosia was leaving Eeylops Owl Emporium with a small rust coloured bird. "_Red Morph"_ the shop owner had corrected her. Apparently, Eastern Screech Owls came in two colours, red or grey. The little owl was sleeping away in her cage, not even stirring when Ambrosia set her down after entering Ollivanders Wand shop.

Peering around, Ambrosia felt rather uncomfortable. The place was small. The only things occupying the space was a small chair (where she set her owl) and rows of small narrow boxes that reached the ceiling. Her nose crinkled at all the dust lying around. She was about to swipe a finger along the counter when a soft voice behind her startled her and she let out a small shriek. Turning around she was met with an old man with pale eyes. Realizing that he must have greeted her she replied with a curt "how do you do". She was her mother's daughter after all!

"Ah, another DeLane! I was wondering when I'd see the sister of Eldon DeLane coming through here." Before Ambrosia could reply, the old man, presumably Mr Ollivander, pulled out a measuring tape and started to measure her from toes to shoulder, fingertip to fingertip, all the while talking.

"Yes, yes. I remember him. Oak and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Very sturdy." As he said this he began moving to the nearest stack of boxes, the measuring tape moving on its own now. Ambrosia had to fight the urge to knock the tape measure away from her. When Ollivander returned, he was carrying a thin blue box. Inside lay a long, white wand.

"I think that will do," the tape measure rolled up and dropped to the floor. "Now, give this one a go. Birch and phoenix feather. Quite soft." She had barley lifted the wand before he snatched it away, muttering to himself as he walked down another row of boxes. He returned a while later holding a dark red box. A thick layer of dust was sitting on top.

"Hmmm, maybe this one. Ebony and unicorn hair, nine inches." This time Ambrosia took the wand slowly, fearing the old man would simply snatch it away again. Instead, as she moved the wand around, a soft sprinkle of silver and gold sparks flew from the end.

"Well, that was easy. A perfect match." Ambrosia eyed her wand closely. It was black and simple, but the handle held soft carvings of interwoven lines barely visible to the eye.

"Are you sure this is the right one? It seemed a bit quick! I believe it took several goes for my brother before he found his wand!" Even as she said this she was reluctant to hand the wand back, even if it was just so he could wrap it up.

"Ah, that may be true, but it is the wand that chooses the wizard, not the other way around. I think it is quite obvious this wand chose you, my dear!" there was a twinkle in his eye, almost as if this was not the first time he had to say this to a customer.

Feeling uncomfortable and not wanting to spend any more time in the dust-covered shop, she paid for her wand and left.

It was late as Ambrosia arrived back at the mansion. She had spent the rest of the time at the Flourish and Blotts waiting for Humphrey to arrive to pick her up. Her mother was still at work and her father and brother where nowhere to be seen. Grabbing a quick bite from the kitchen, she headed to her room to inspect everything that she had bought today. She had let her owl out of the cage and as she watched it fly into the night to go hunting, she decided that she had better come up with a name for the thing. She couldn't possibly go about calling it _the owl_ all the time.

Flicking through her books she found a name which she rather liked herself. Hatty Hathwart was a rather peculiar witch who found herself in love with an imp after a potion went wrong. The name Hatty meant _little home-ruler_ and was cute in an old fashioned kind of way. 'Well, if it's old fashioned, it will definitely fit in with this family'! As she had done for the last week since she received her letter, Ambrosia crossed of another day on the calendar leading up to the Hogwarts, and went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

They arrived at Platform 9 ¾ by apparition.

Although this was not the first time Ambrosia had apparated it still left her woozy and caused everything to spin. Taking a minute to ground herself, she couldn't help but stare at all the people that had gathered. Parents and children were chatting and hugging around a scarlet steam engine. Smoke was drifting over their heads, owls were cooing and everything looked rather hectic. The carriages were filling fast, with students leaning out the windows to talk to their families.

Ambrosia's brother, who had already done this five times, was eager to be off, looking over the crowd to spot his friends' heads bobbing by.

"Well, I'm off. Thomas just got on the train, so I better go get a seat before they're all gone!" Before he could run off, however, his mum grabbed him into a tight hug, sniffling all the while.

"Take care sweetie, and be good! Make sure to look after your sister. Show her around a bit, and make sure she knows the right people to talk to!" She left the _and who not to talk to_ off, but it was clear that by the 'right people' she meant pure-bloods.

Mrs DeLane gave her son a quick kiss before she let him join his friends. She turned to Ambrosia then, giving her daughter a hug before giving her the same speech that she'd just given her son. Her father, who was a man who believed in showing as little emotion as possible shook her hand and helped her carry her trunk into the train.

"Make us proud" was the only thing he said before he disappeared into the crowd. Ambrosia couldn't help but feel disappointed by her parents, even if she was used to this by now. After all it was her first time away for such a long period of time, the least they could do was look upset about it.

Giving a sigh, she went in search of an empty compartment. Finding one towards the back of the train she shoved her trunk into a corner before taking a seat next to the window. From there she watched all the families saying their goodbyes, hugging and kissing their children. A whistle started from somewhere, causing the last of the children to rush into the train, their parents waving and yelling last minute goodbyes. Before she could let another sigh escape, the door to her compartment opened and a girl with messy hair entered.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't realise someone was already occupying this compartment. Do you mind if I sit here?" Ambrosia gave the girl a once-over, before shrugging. She could tell by the state of her clothes she must come from a rich family, and was most likely a pure-blood like herself.

"I'm Margaret by the way" the girl said "but call me Maggie" she added in a haste.

Not wanting to seem rude to a possible future friend she immediately replied with a "nice to meet you" before giving her own name.

A silence seemed to fall as Ambrosia watched the scenery pass by.

The girl, Maggie, was shifting in her seat, unable but trying to stay quiet. She was often told by her mother that it was considered rude to be the first to interrupt the silence, even if the silence is an uncomfortable one. Seeming to decide to ignore the '_rude'_ that sounded suspiciously like her mother's sing-song voice Maggie blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

"Do you know what house you'll get sorted into? Personally I hope I'll get into Slytherin. My whole family's been in Slytherin. I know I'd just die of embarrassment if I got into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw and don't get me started on Gryffindor. Blood-traitors and mud-bloods the lot of them." Having gotten everything out she visibly relaxed. Feeling the need to say something back, Ambrosia told Maggie about her own hopes of getting sorted into Slytherin and about her brother, before a commotion interrupted her.

Going out to investigate, the girls saw a group of boys crowding around a pale looking boy with black hair. They seemed to have arrived in the middle of a fierce dispute. Taking a closer look, Ambrosia was shocked to realise that she knew one of the boys. Tall and handsome with black hair and grey eyes, Sirius Black was easy to distinguish from the other boys.

"-where the scum of the school get sorted into. There's only one place I'll get sorted into, and that's Gryffindor!" Giving the pale boy a shove, Sirius and his group of friends began to walk away. Shocked at his words, Ambrosia couldn't help but call after him.

"Don't tell me you're proud to be sorted into Griffindor? Imagine, a Black in Griffindor, what a shame! Your parents will have a heart attack!"

"Oh yeah? And what's it to you?" Black eyed Ambrosia from head to toe. "I remember you. You're DeLane's kid… Ambrosia, right?" Here he turned to a brown haired boy wearing glasses. "Take a good look James. Her entire family's been in Slytherin. Pure-bloods the lot of them. They think that just because they come from a long line of wizards it makes them special somehow, better than the rest of us." With a sneer in her direction Sirius turned and walked of, his friends following.

Ambrosia felt like he had just insulted herself and her family.

"I _know_ I'm better than the rest of you! I'm a Pure-blood and proud of it!" Without looking back she turned and walked back to her compartment, shooting a glare at anyone still lingering in the corridor. She was still fuming by the time the trolley lady came by. Maggie, feeling uncomfortable by the silence decided to cheer up her friend by buying a bit of everything on the trolley.

"Stop thinking about him Ambrosia. That guy was a prick! Now cheer up and have a go at one of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I bet you can't beat me at picking weird flavours." Without waiting for a response, Maggie plunged her hand into the box and popped a green jelly bean into her mouth. "Yuck, cut grass!" The rest of the train trip was spent trying the grossest looking beans, laughing and talking!


	3. Chapter 3

By the time the train had arrived at the station, Ambrosia had forgotten all about Sirius Black. As she stood next to Maggie, both now wearing their robes, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

They followed the rest of the first years to a giant of a man. Ambrosia thought he greatly resembled a bear, what with all that shaggy hair covering his face.

Having called all the first years to him, they followed him, stumbling down a narrow path that led to the edge of a great, black lake. Everyone stared in awe at their first glimpse of Hogwarts. There, on the other side of the lake sat a large castle. Its windows glowed a warm gold, and Ambrosia could see many towers reaching towards the sky.

At the edge of the lake there waited several small boats.

" 'k everyone, get in. Four to a boat please!" The giant man pointed towards the small boats. Ambrosia and Maggie quickly sat in a boat together, making sure to shoot a glare at anyone who attempted to join them.

"Like I'll share a boat with more people. This thing looks like it might sink any minute. Father never mentioned this part before!" Maggie gave a huff and shifted in her seat, causing the boat to rock dangerously.

Once all the students were in the little boats, they moved away from the shore, gliding over the black surface of the lake. There was silence as everyone stared at the approaching castle.

"Heads down everyone" the large man yelled as they neared the cliff on which the castle stood. As Ambrosia bent her head, the boats moved through a curtain of Ivy and into a dark tunnel that ended at a small harbour. There they got out of the boats and followed the large man through a passage way, across grass and up a flight of steps till they reached the large oak front door of the castle.

The large man knocked on the door, which swung open to reveal a tall, black-haired witch with a stern face. She was wearing an emerald dress and greeted the giant with a nod and a "thank you Hagrid".

As she walked through the door she called for the first-years to follow her. They marched through the grand castle until they reached a small chamber, where they gathered, standing rather closely together and waited.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am professor McGonagall. In but a few short minutes you will be sorted into one of four houses where you will spend the rest of your school years in. Your house will become like a family to you. In your house you will attend classes together, sleep in the same dormitory, spend your free time together and you will try to gain points for it.

The four Houses are Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Each house has produced remarkable witches and wizards and will guide and support you throughout your school years.

While here, you can gain points through your achievements, but lose points through misbehaviour and rule-breaking. The house with the most point by the end of the year will win the House cup, a great honour indeed.

While you will be staying at Hogwarts I hope that you will become an asset for you house. Now I suggest that you make yourselves presentable while you wait." With that she left the chamber.

As soon as the door had closed everyone began talking about the sorting. No one seemed to know how they would be sorted into their houses.

"You don't think they'll make us perform magic, do you? I haven't learn any spells yet!" This produced murmurs of panic.

"Don't be daft. They know that we haven't learnt any spells yet. I bet they've devised trials to test us. Maybe there'll be a dragon and we have to fight it" a boy from the front said. He was the same boy from the train. The one who was standing with Black. What was his name again? Ambrosia remembered it started with a J.

His words caused even more panic. Before anyone else could suggest anymore crazy ideas, the door opened again and Professor McGonagall walked back in. "Settle down" she waited until everyone had stopped fidgeting.

"Now, I want you to form a line and follow me please." Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Ambrosia followed Professor McGonagall out of the chamber, down the hall and through a pair of double doors.

She couldn't help but gasp once she saw the Great Hall. The huge room was lit with thousands of floating candles. Four large tables seemed to house the rest of the students and a fifth table had the teachers sitting at it.

Looking up, she saw that the ceiling of the Hall was enchanted so that instead of wooden beams she saw the night sky. Stars were twinkling down at her as they walked towards the teachers table.

Tearing her eyes away from the enchanted sky she saw Professor McGonagall place a stool in front of the staff table before setting a raggedy looking hat on top of the stool. Ambrosia looked at the hat in disgust.

"I'm not touching that thing" she whispered to Maggie, who only nodded in reply, still in too much awe to speak. Suddenly the hat began to move, a long rip along the bottom formed into a mouth as it began to sing about the merits of each house. When it mentioned the part about having to put the hat on your head to be sorted, Ambrosia had to resist the urge to gag. Still, she joined everyone else in clapping when the hat finished its song.

McGonagall stepped forward holding a large roll of parchment.

"Once I have called your name you will come forward and place the hat on your head where it will sort you into your new house," she said.

"Anderson, Julius!" A small, pale faced boy walked up to the stool and put the hat on his head. "RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled after a minute.

This didn't seem too bad, Ambrosia thought to herself. All she had to do was sit there with that _thing_ on her head and it would put her into one of the houses.

Two more names where called before Professor McGonagall called Sirius Black's name. He seemed to sit on that stool for ages before it finally called "GRYFFINDOR!" A relieved looking Sirius made his way over to the cheering table. As he sat down he caught Ambrosia staring at him and shot a smirk in her direction. With a huff she turned her head back to the Sorting hat.

It wasn't long until her own name was called. Slowly she made her way to the hat, pulling a face at the disgusting state it was in before she pulled it over her head.

"DeLane huh? Let's see what's in your head. Hmmm. Ambitious yes, very driven. A bit of a superiority complex, just like your brother. There's only one place for you. SLYTHERIN!"

Relieve and happiness flooded Ambrosia. Ripping the hat from her head she made her way over to the Slytherin table. There she spotted her brother further down. He had a proud look in his eyes as he gave her a welcoming smile. As the clapping died down again, Ambrosia couldn't help the feeling that she belonged here.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I was away on holidays for quite a while (it was awesome!). Anyway, enjoy!**

After the sorting, time just seemed to fly by and before long two whole weeks had gone by. It was now Thursday afternoon and the Slytherin first years were making their way down to their last lesson of the day; flying.

Their teacher, Madame Hooch, was standing in between the line of brooms, waiting for the Gryffindor students to arrive. This was their third class in flying. They had already learnt basic broom control and were now starting on more complex flight manoeuvring.

Once the Gryffindors had arrived, Madame Hooch ordered everyone to pick up a broom and follow her over to the Quidditch pitch. Once they arrived there, they saw that the pitch was covered in poles and hoops that rose to varying heights.

Madame Hooch explained that for today's lesson, they had to make their way through this obstacle path. Ambrosia was studying the pitch warily. She was no expert in flying and would surely fall off her broom before she'd even get half way through.

"Listen up everybody. You are to make your way one at a time through the obstacle path. 10 house points will be awarded to those who make it through all the obstacles without any problems. 5 points to those who make it till the end! Now, when I call your name, make your way to the start line and begin. Mark Adkinson!"

One by one all the students mounted their brooms and tried their best to fly through the obstacles. Most fell off about half way through the course, Ambrosia included. She had just made it passed the half way mark when her broom caught on a pole and sent her falling to the ground. Fortunately it was only a short fall and she walked away with nothing worse than a bruise and a bump.

Four students managed to make it all the way through the course earning 5 points each for their houses. The only ones who made it through without any problems where Sirius' friend Potter, and Maggie. While the Gryffindors cheered and clapped Potter on the back, Ambrosia stared unbelievingly at her friend.

"That was amazing! I didn't know you could fly that well?" Beaming, Maggie gave a shrug as they made their way back to the castle.

"My dad's a Quidditch enthusiast, to put it nicely. As soon as I was old enough to sit on a broom he had me flying around, practicing Quidditch moves. He really wants me to join the Slytherin team you know."

When they entered the great hall they immediately noticed a racket coming from the Gryffindor table. A large group had gathered around the Potter boy and were congratulating him on his flying. Someone asked him whether he was going to try out for the Quidditch team.

"Hey, why not? I bet I'd win the Quidditch cup!" Maggie rolled her eyes before calling out loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What an idiot. Doesn't he know that first years aren't _allowed_ to try out for Quidditch?" The look on Potters face, as well as all the Gryffindors' made Ambrosia laugh. She wasn't the only one. All the Slytherins had joined in. She had just enough time to glimpse Black's scowl before the food arrived at the table and she turned back to smirk at Maggie.

It was dark by the time the two girls decided to head back to their dormitories. They were one of the last students to leave the great hall. Maggie had kept them back so she could talk the Lucius Malfoy, the Slytherin Prefect, about the chances of the Slytherin team in the upcoming match against Gryffindor.

The news was good. Their team had a new seeker who was supposed to be quite an exceptional player. The announcement was to be made after the try-outs tomorrow night. So it was with a smile on Maggies face that they made their way down towards the Dungeons.

They had just turned a corner when a weedy boy with small, watery eyes and a pointed nose ran into Ambrosia, causing them both to fall over.

"Get off! Who are you?" Shoving the boy off of herself, she stood, looking down at the mess of robes still lying at their feet.

"Looks like he's from Gryffindor" Maggie said, pointing to the red and gold scarf the boy was wearing. Sneering at him she asked the obvious question.

"What is a Gryffindor doing near the Slytherin common room, huh? Were you spying on us?" The boy made to get up, but Maggie pushed him back down. Ambrosia looked him up and down.

"What a pathetic thing you are. You know Maggie, I think he looks just like a mouse. What's your name mouse boy?" When the only sound he made was a whimper, both girls gave a laugh.

"What's the matter mouse boy. Cat got your tongue? I think we need to teach this Gryffindor his proper place. Show him what we do to those we catch spying on us." With that Ambrosia drew her wand and pointed it at the boy, "_Herbifors"_.

A second later, yellow flowers began to sprout from the boys head. Laughing at him, they didn't notice him reaching for his own wand. "_Calvorio"_. There was a loud bang. Ambrosia looked at Maggie, trying to see if she was hit with the spell. When she couldn't spot any change in her friend she looked back at the boy on the floor and immediately burst out laughing.

Instead of flowers and hair, his head was now completely bold.

"Oh my god. Look at him. Can't even cast a decent spell without it backfiring. You really are pathetic." With a flick of her wand she made the boy dangle in mid-air. He began flailing around and calling for help, causing both girls to jeer at him.

"Leave him alone!" Turning around, Ambrosia spotted three boys walking towards them, wands drawn.

"I don't think I will. He tried to hex my friend. He got what he deserves." As the boys drew nearer, she saw that they were Black and Potter, along with another boy she didn't recognise.

"I said leave him alone, DeLane" Potter said as he pointed his wand at Ambrosia. "Look mouse boy, your knights in shining armour! But if Potter insists…" She gave another flick of her wand and sent the boy flying at the Gryffindors. He went crashing into the third boy that had come with Potter and Black, knocking them both over. Noticing the dark look Potter shot her, she couldn't help but smirk back at him.

"I'm gonna make you pay for that". He lifted his wand and sent a hex straight for Ambrosia. Before the spell could hit however, Maggie jumped in front of her and deflected the spell back at him. It hit, causing Potter to fall to the ground, his legs twitching and jumping this way and that way.

"James!" Black yelled. Before either girls could react he swung his wand. A blue light burst from his wand and hit Ambrosia directly in the chest. The force of the spell sent her flying into the wall. Maggie ran to her side, laying her down on the floor.

"Oh my god, Ambrosia are you ok?" Ambrosia didn't reply. She couldn't breathe properly and her chest was searing in pain. "Is that blood? What did you do?" She heard Black stammer something before everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

When she woke up, Ambrosia found herself lying in a crisp white bed in the hospital wing.

There was a dull ache in her chest and her head felt foggy. Lifting a hand to rub her chest, she looked around the hospital wing and found Maggie sitting in a chair next to her bed sleeping.

"Maggie?" Maggie woke with a start, looking around wildly until she spotted Ambrosia.

"You're awake! Thank god, you had me worried. Are you ok? How's your chest?" Ambrosia looked down to where she was rubbing her chest.

"It aches a bit and my head feels like there's a cloud stuck in it. What happened?" Maggie, still looking worried, grabbed Ambrosia's hand.

"I don't know how much you remember, but Black hit you with this spell and you hit the wall. You were bleeding from your chest and I was so worried and Black and the other boys were just standing there and then Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn showed up.

McGonagall told Slughorn to take you to the Hospital wing before demanding that we follow her to her office. She looked really angry and she wouldn't let me go with you even though I begged her to go."

She gave Ambrosia an apologetic look as if it was her fault she wasn't allowed to go.

"When we got to her office she demanded someone tell her what had happened and since none them were saying anything I told her everything. God Ambrosia, you should have seen her, she was so furious. Then she rounded on Black, asking why he would use such a dangerous spell on a fellow student. Apparently he got the spell from his dad.

Can you belief it? He heard him talking about it and how it's supposed to be used against enemies. By then the Professor looked ready to explode. Gave all four boys a weeks' worth of detention and took fifty points each from Gryffindor.

Don't look so happy Ambrosia, she took 10 points of Slytherin for the two of us before she let me go." Ambrosia scowled.

She was the one in the hospital wing, why should she lose 10 points!? Before she could mention this to Maggie Madame Pomfrey walked in.

"How's the patient feeling? I'd expect your chest is sore. How's your head? Got quite a bump there." She walked up to Ambrosia, feeling her chest before shining a light in her eyes.

"Follow the light with your eye's please. Good. Well, you don't have a concussion, but I'd like to keep you in overnight!" Seeing Ambrosia was about to object she held up her hand.

"It's for your own good. Don't give me that look young lady. You've been seriously injured, you need your rest!" And with that she left.

"Sorry Ambrosia, I'd better go too. The feast is about to begin and I'm starving." She gathered her things and with a last goodbye she too left the room, leaving Ambrosia alone in the Hospital wing.

Two weeks had passed since Ambrosia had left the hospital wing. During the whole time, Ambrosia and Maggie made sure to ignore the Marauders (that's what Sirius' friends called themselves), while the rest of the Slytherins glared in their direction as often as possible.

Even though it was still the middle of Autumn a cold wind was beginning to set, dragging with it rain and storms. It was Saturday and Ambrosia and Maggie were sitting by the lake, huddled up against the cold and trying to do some homework.

"Remind me again why we thought it was a good idea to do our Potion homework outside? Its freezing! Not to mention the wind keeps blowing my scrolls away" Maggie complained, grabbing at a piece of parchment that was being blown away.

Tucking her scarf more securely around her neck, Ambrosia gave a sigh, before answering her friend.

"I like it out here. It's quiet." Looking around the girls noted that they were the only ones still outside. The wind and the cold had driven the rest of the student body inside.

"It's quiet out here, 'cause nobody is crazy enough to sit outside in this weather when it's so warm and cosy inside. Come on Ambrosia, can't we go back inside? My fingers are frozen stiff and I can't feel the tip of my nose anymore" Maggie squinted her eyes to look her nose, which had taken on a rosy colour. Ambrosia took one last look out at the lake before getting up and collecting her things.

"You're right Maggie. I think a nice cup of hot chocolate is in order. We can sit in front of the fireplace and defrost your nose!"

"Yay!" Maggie gave a cheerful jump, thinking of the comfortable and warm common room awaiting them, and in record speed had everything packed away. Grabbing Ambrosia's hand, she quickly began to pull her in the direction of the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

It was pouring rain outside. She just had to look up at the enchanted ceiling to tell. A shiver went down her back at the thought of having to go out in this weather.

"What's wrong Ambrosia? You haven't even touched your bacon yet?" Maggie leaned into Ambrosia, hungrily leering at her pieces of crispy bacon lying on her plate. Ambrosia took the not so subtle hint and slid the plate over towards Maggie.

"Have you seen what it's like out there? Why do we have to go to the match? It's not even our team playing today!" Ambrosia asked Maggie, shooting a glare at the two Quidditch teams. There was a crowd around both the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors.

"Today is the first Quidditch match of the season! We _have_ to be there! Who cares if Slytherin isn't out there playing today. We still have to go. Come rain or shine, no one will be able to say that Maggie MacAlister missed a single match!" Amborsia let out another sigh. Of course she'd make friends with the biggest Quidditch fan in all of England.

Almost every witch and wizard loved the game. The thrill of watching players speed by at enormous speeds high up of the ground was infectious not just for the players, but for the audience watching as well. Ambrosia quickly learnt that, at least for wizards watching, half the excitement came from watching your team succeed and half from watching the sometimes violent crashes and injuries that this game was known for.

Her brother was absolutely obsessed with Quidditch. Whenever there was a match on between the local teams he was the first to go, usually dragging his reluctant sister with him, kicking and screaming if he had to. "A game like this has to be shared with friends" he would tell her when she asked him why he felt the need to drag her with him.

"Then why don't you ever go with one of your friends? They'd actually enjoy going with you!" He'd always smirk at her instead of answering.

Scowling at the memories, Ambrosia looked down the table to where her brother was sitting. Eldon was sitting down the table surrounded by his usual gang of friends, laughing loudly at something that one of them said. Like everyone else in Slytherin he was wearing his green and silver scarf over his uniform and had a brooch pinned to his chest.

Squinting, she could barely make out what it said. '_Hufflepuff for the win. Down with Gryffindor'._ She had a sneaking suspicion that as soon as the Slytherins left the hall, the badges would be less polite in their slander.

When eventually all the food disappeared of the tables Ambrosia was already reaching for the doors of the Great Hall. Although she wasn't a huge fan of Quidditch, she knew that between Maggie and her brother she had little choice in the matter.

"Come on, we better hurry or all the best spots will be taken!" Maggie had finally caught up with Ambrosia, pockets filled with food. Taking a firm grip on Ambrosia's sleeve (as if she was afraid that Ambrosia might slip away when she wasn't looking), she began hauling her friend in the direction of the Quidditch pitch.

They had just managed to make it half way down the lawn to the pitch when someone bumped into Ambrosia.

"Watch it!" There, lying on the floor, clutching the now empty plate of food was Peter Pettigrew, staring at the remains of his pudding, which was now slowly running down Ambrosia's robes, in fear.

"Yuck, what the hell is that? Pudding?" In a futile attempt she tried to wipe the mess of her clothes , but only succeeded in spreading it even more.

"You imbecile! Look what you did. My robes are ruined." Giving up trying to remove the pudding from her robes, she finally looked at the idiot that had so carelessly run into her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mouse boy. Never learn will you? You owe me a new set of robes. Or maybe you'd like another lesson in manners?!" Leaning over the quivering mess still lying at her feet, she couldn't help but smirk at him.

"I think I'll petrify you and leave you here. Everyone's down by the Quidditch which means no one'll help you until after the match. And between me and you that could be another few hours." Straightening up she went to grab her wand when Maggie softly bumped her side.

"Teachers!" Looking in the direction Maggie was pointing she saw a group of teachers making their way towards the pitch, chatting idly with each other.

Looking back down at the boy she sneered at him before turning around and heading back inside the castle to get changed.

As she entered the castle she heard Maggie yell that she'd safe her a seat.

It had taken Ambrosia longer than she thought to get changed. Though that was probably partly due to her debating for quite a few minutes whether or not her robes were salvageable before deciding to throw them away and have her parents send her a new set, and partly due to her reluctance to go down to the pitch and watch the end of the Quidditch match. She could never understand why people loved sports so much. In fact, aside from her brother dragging her along to a Quidditch match, she avoided any and all sport-like activity. She just didn't see the appeal of it. She figured that she was the only one at Hogwarts who didn't enjoy Quidditch.

Which was why she was so surprised to see Sirius Black sneaking out of the library, a big brown book firmly clenched under his arms.

"I hope you weren't planning on stealing that! I don't think Madame Pince would approve!"

Sirius Black froze as soon as he heard her voice, and turned around slowly whilst trying to move the heavy tome behind his back.

"DeLane, I should have guessed. Is this your new hobby, stalking me?" He gave her a narrowed look when she moved closer to him.

"Don't flatter yourself. Why would I want to stalk you when I have more important things I could be doing?! Right now I'm more interested in that book you're trying to hide. What is it?" Ambrosia took another step closer, trying to get a glimpse of the book behind his back. Black dodge out of the way, keeping his back as far from her searching eyes as possible, almost losing his balance.

"It's none of your business. I can borrow a book from the library if I want to. What's it to you anyway?"

By now Black had his back pressed to the wall, the book squashed in between, to stop her from getting a peek of its cover.

"It's rather suspicious. I mean, shouldn't you be watching the Quidditch match and cheer for your team? Or did you finally realise that there is no possible way for Gryffindor to win and decided to forego the match and catch up on some homework?" Ambrosia moved closer until they were only a hand span away from each other. She was trying to make him uncomfortable and it was working. She smirked when he hit his head against the wall trying to get away from her.

"I will find out what you're up to! I don't trust you, so you better watch out, 'cause I have my eye on you!"

With that she stepped away from him, flashing him a smile before walking away. She had a match to catch, even if it was almost finished. She'd never hear the end of it if she missed it!

It was getting dark by the time they made it back to the dungeons! The Quidditch match had taken longer than she anticipated and she was cold and wet and tired. Maggie was walking next to her, telling anyone and everyone everything that had happened at the match, not caring that they had all been there, cheering and yelling and taunting any Gryffindors unlucky enough to be within hearing distance. Even Ambrosia had gotten into the spirit of things, cheering Hufflepuff on, yelling the now popular Slytherin slogan; '_Hufflepuff for the win. Down with Gryffindor'._ She was just glad that tomorrow was Sunday. Both her and Maggie had finished all their homework except potions, which meant that once she finished her essay on the properties of moonstone and how it can be used in potions she had the whole afternoon free. And she knew just how she was going to spend it. A little trip to the library was in order!

**I'm alive! Sorry it took so long. I'll try to do better next time =)**


	7. Chapter 7

It had been snowing almost every day since they had returned from their holidays and the Slytherins had to fight their way through, leaving the warm and humid Herbology building behind them.

Ambrosia and Maggie were relieved when they entered the Entrance Hall, their noses red and fingers frozen from the cold. They had just finished the last lesson of the day and had the whole afternoon of. Maggie was still shaking snow of her coat when she realised that her friend had already begun to walk away.

"Hey wait, where are you going? The dungeons are the other way!" She found herself running to catch up with Ambrosia, standing in front of her, hand on her hips, giving her a 'I-demand-you-tell-me-everything' look.

"I'm going to the Library. I need to work on my charms homework." Ambrosia tried to dodge around her friend, but Maggie refused to let her pass. '_Damn she's good_' she thought, huffing in annoyance when her third attempt to pass her friend failed.

"Right… You mean the charms essay that you finished yesterday?" Ambrosia refused to look at Maggie, embarrassed at having been caught lying by her friend.

"What are you really doing Brosia? You've been acting weird, even during Christmas. Don't think I haven't noticed. You're still not worrying about that book are you? It's been weeks and you still haven't found anything. Maybe it's time to give up. Besides, we still need to work on our star chart for Astronomy, its due next Tuesday you know!"

Ambrosia sighed. Her friend was right. For the past weeks, she had been trying to find out more about the book Sirius Black had tried to hide from her, but only succeeded in increasing her need to know what he was hiding. Maybe it was time to give up. There were better thing to worry about than what Black and his friends were up to.

"I guess you're right Maggie. It's stupid I know. It's just, I don't trust them."

"I don't trust them either, but they are not worth your time! I'm gonna cheer you up no matter what. In fact, I have the perfect thing in mind, come on!" And with that, she took Ambrosia by the arm and dragged her of in the direction of the Dungeons, where Ambrosia was sure Maggie was going to show of her new Broom, again!

Ambrosia hated flying. She couldn't understand why everyone loved it so much. For one, it was uncomfortable. She was still rubbing her rear, even though it had been half an hour since Maggie forced her to fly that stick.

For another, it was dangerous! Flying that high off the ground (not that she'd ever gone higher than two meters in the air), with nothing to support you other than a thin branch with bristles at one end, she could only imagine what would happen if she'd loose her grip and fall.

If there was a spell on the damn thing to stop you from falling off she might be more inclined to try to like flying on a broom.

As it was, she was grumbling all the way from where her and Maggie had their little flying session to Professor McGonagall's office. She needed to ask her teacher some questions about the essay they were given.

She'd begged Maggie to come with her (she found the Professor intimidating at the best of times and didn't want to face her on her own), but they had missed dinner and Maggie, addicted to food that she was, ran off for the Hogwarts kitchens instead. How she found out their location was still a mystery to Ambrosia.

She was just about to go down the staircase and make her way back to the Slytherin common room when she heard something metallic hit the floor down the corridor behind her. Debating with herself whether or not she should bother to investigate or head back to the dungeons and hope Maggie saved her some food (unlikely), she was just about to step onto the second step (got to watch out for that first step) when she heard a soft _damn_. Her curiosity piqued, she turned around and as silently as she could, made her way down the corridor, away from the stair case.

Peeking around the corner, she could see five dark shapes shuffling along the next corridor, keeping to the shadows and swearing and grunting every now and then. They seemed to be moving slowly and rather awkwardly. Ambrosia was just about to head over to them and demand what was going on when a hand landed on her shoulder, startling her so much she jumped and turned around, nearly running into Professor McGonagall.

"I think you'll find that the Slytherin Common room is the other way, Miss DeLane!" Professor McGonagall was looking down at Ambrosia with a stern look, arms crossed and waiting.

"But, there were some students here making a ruckus. I was just going to investigate". She started squirming when the Professor continued to look down at her, her expression not changing.

"I didn't hear anything. Even so, it is almost curfew. Students should not be wandering the halls of this school so late, especially to investigate phantom noises. Now, off to bed with you. It may be the weekend tomorrow, but I know for certain that you still have a few essays to complete. Best use your time wisely, Miss DeLane!"

She stood there waiting for Ambrosia to make her way to the stairs leading down to the Hall, and kept watching until she was sure the Slytherin had heading in the direction of the Dungeons.

Taking a quick look at the now empty corridor (not that she thought there was anything there to begin with), and tutting, she made her way back to her office.

They had just finished a double lesson of potions. Normally, Ambrosia would have enjoyed Potions (even if they had to share the classroom with the Gryffindors), sitting with Maggie and gossiping about the latest news. But today she couldn't wait to finish as soon as possible.

Their teacher, Professor Slughorn, had decided that he didn't want the students always sitting with the same people and paired them off randomly. And of course, with Ambrosia's dismal luck, she was paired with none other than Sirius Black! She took some solace that at least she hadn't been paired with Scabbardus Blipe, a pale and creepy Slytherin that had an awful skin condition. That honour went to mouse boy. She had grinned at first, when the Professor had paired those two up. But that grin soon disappeared when he partnered her with Black.

So instead of getting any proper work done, they had spent the whole time shoving each other, making nasty comments and trying to sabotage each other's potions. How they had managed to end up with anything resembling a swelling potion was beyond her.

As soon as Slughorn had dismissed the class, she had shoved all her things into her bag, grabbed Maggies arm and ran from the room as fast as possible. Of course, in her rush to leave the potions classroom, she had managed to leave her book behind. Without it she would not be able to finish her assignment.

Begrudgingly, she made her way back to Potions, hoping Professor Slughorn was by some miracle still there. She didn't want to have to go to the Staffroom to get her book as well.

She had just turned the corner when she saw the back of Professor Slughorn. Relief swept through her, as she made to approach him. It was then she noticed that there was someone else with the Professor.

Potter was standing there, a handsome smile on his face, blocking the door to the Potions classroom.

He appeared to be in the middle of praising Slughorn on his teaching ability, explaining in great detail how impressed he was with their teachers knowledge in potion brewing and how he could only hope to have but a fraction of the Professors talents.

Ambrosia had to roll her eyes. She should have figured that Potter was a suck up. He already had the other teachers wrapped up in his charm, despite his average grades.

Not wanting to get pulled into their discussion, she squeezed her way past Potter, giving Slughorn a quick nod of acknowledgment. Rushing over to her desk, she saw her book sitting neatly on top, waiting patiently for her to come back and get it.

Stuffing it into her bag, she turned around quickly, intent to leave as soon as possible, when she bumped into someone, dropping her bag as she did. Giving a sigh of frustration, she bent to pick up her bag, and, noticing another item on the floor, she picked that up as well. No doubt the other student had dropped it when she bumped into them.

"Here, I think you dropped this. Sorry about bumping into you before!" She apologised, looking up at the person in front of her, holding out what appeared to be a small satchel filled with dried plant materials. There, standing in front of her, fidgeting and shifting from one foot to the other was another one of Blacks friends, Remus Lupin. She should have figured that he'd be here with Potter. Gryffindors had a habit of doing everything in groups. The more the merrier.

Lupin grabbed the satchel from her, stuffing it in his pocket before rushing to the door. He quickly thanked the Professor before grabbing Potters arm and dragging him off somewhere.

Ambrosia, totally startled by the Gryffindors behaviour, shook her head before making her own retreat. She had a lot of homework she had to finish before classes started again on Monday.


	8. Chapter 8

There had to be something wrong with her! Why else would she spend most of her time thinking about the Marauders?

After that strange run in with Lupin and Potter, Ambrosia had decided to just forget about the Gryffindors and their increasingly strange and suspicious behaviour. After all, exams were coming up and she had a lot of studying to do if she wanted to live up to her parents expectations.

So for the last few weeks, Ambrosia, Maggie and a few other Slytherins had started their own little study group in preparations for the exams. And this is where she found herself, in the library, sitting next to her best friend, her copy of _One thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ in front of her, staring unseeing at its pages.

She had been reading the same sentence for at least half an hour without taking anything in. Shaking her head she tried again;

_"The Wiggentree is a magical rowan that will protect anyone touching its trunk from the attack of Dark creatures"_

Although the Wiggentree wasn't technically a herb or fungi they were still expected to read about it as it related to not only Herbology but also Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts. But try as she might, Ambrosia could only think about what Filch had said yesterday.

Both Ambrosia and Maggie had just left the Great Hall, their arms full of Easter chocolates that their parents had sent them, when they passed Filch talking to Professor Dumbledore. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on their conversation, but considering how loud Filch was talking it was hard not to.

Apparently someone had been sneaking out of school for some time. Filch couldn't prove who it was, nor has he been able to catch them (not that he hadn't tried), but he swore on his cat that it was Potter and his little gang.

As they walked off towards their common room, still hearing Filch complaining about these troublemakers and how they should be punished when he caught them, Ambrosia couldn't help but go over the conversation in her head.

The Marauders were sneaking out of school at night. Not only that, but she had seen them acting suspiciously for the past few weeks, hadn't she? What where they up to? Did she really want to know?

She remembered what Maggie had told her. Finding out what the Marauders were up to was not worth her time.

She was curious yes, but she wouldn't let a group of boys distract her from what was really important. Exams were around the corner and she was determined to get a good grade. It did not bear thinking about going home and facing her parents with anything but less than perfect.

It didn't help that her brother just happened to be amazing at everything he did. Ambrosia loved her brother, but he sure left her with the impossible task of living up to his reputation.

With a sigh she turned back to her book. She didn't need any distractions, so she swore to herself that from now on she would let nothing distract her, no matter what!

Ambrosia gritted her teeth in anger. She did not need this. In fact, when she found out who was responsible for this she would kill them. Was it too much to ask that she could get one day of studying in without something happening? If it wasn't Quidditch it was Maggie's infinite amount of chocolate bunnies running non-stop over her books. When she went to the library to escape the living food, it was Sirius Black pulling another childish prank on Severus (he had put a stink worm in Severus' bag. As soon as he had opened it, a think cloud of smoke had escaped, causing everyone nearby to gag and run from the library as fast as possible).

Not even the grounds outside of the castle were safe.

And now this! All she wanted to do was study in peace and get a good mark on her exams.

Instead, she found herself standing on the just outside the Entrance Hall, a heavy net covering her.

_Breathe, just breathe!_ She kept repeating this in her head, trying to calm her anger before she would end up doing something stupid like set these ropes on fire. She had already ruined one set of robes earlier this year.

Instead she stood there, trying to stay calm and waiting for the person responsible to show themselves and free her.

She didn't have to wait long. There was a shout of joy.

"Aha, I finally caught you! Thought you could sneak past me?! Ha!" Filch appeared from somewhere behind her, rubbing his hand in glee. "Sneaking out after hours is against the rules you know. Just you wait until the headmaster get here, then you'll get it. Oooh, maybe he'll finally let me use some of the old punishments again. The thumb screw was always a favourite of mine!"

"I'm sorry about all this, Miss DeLane. An easy mistake to make. Perhaps it is for the best if you head back to the dormitories instead. I'll let Professor Sprout know. " Ambrosia scowled at the pleasant smile Professor Dumbledore was giving her. A whole afternoon wasted because of Filch and all she got was an 'oops sorry' and a stupid smile. With a derisive _hmpf_, she snatched her books from a flustered Filch and stomped back into the Entrance Hall, muttering curses as she went. This was definitely not her day. Between her food-crazy friend, the Mauraders and Filch the idiot caretaker thwarting her every attempt at studying she had no idea how she was going to pass her exams. And now she was falling even further behind in Herbology. How was she supposed to learn anything if she couldn't even make it to her make-up lessons.

Fed up with it all, she threw her book on the floor with a yell, sunk down on her knees and put her head in her hands. Exams were next week and she was going to fail them, she just knew it. She had literally gotten no studying done and her marks were mediocre at best. How was she going to face her parents? Would she really be the first DeLane to be expelled from Hogwarts after just the first year?

It was all too much and the pressure was getting to her. She drew in a shuddering breath, then anther and before she knew it she was crying.

Ambrosia wasn't loud. She wasn't sobbing hysterically and she wasn't yelling at the unfairness of it all. But she was in the middle of the entrance hall, crying into her hands, shoulders shaking. Which was why she really shouldn't have been surprised when she heard Sirius Black calling her name.

Groaning in embarrassment, she quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve and snatched her books off the floor. No way was she letting _Black_ see her cry. And with new determination she ran passed him to her dormitories, without even looking in his direction. But she did bump his shoulder extra hard. She couldn't let him think she was soft just because she had been crying earlier!


End file.
